3D printing in biofabrication: From surface textures to biological engineering

On-demand printing through additive manufacturing (AM) has become a mainstream method for fabricating bio-inspired and biological systems. The rapid development of new printing approaches provides capabilities for prototyping precise 3D structures that recapitulate features of biological systems. To address challenges posed by the living environment, natural organisms have evolved a series of multi-purpose functional biomaterials and structures with properties such as super-hydrophobicity, anisotropy, and mechanical reinforcement. These provide rich inspiration for biological design and fabrication. Implantable organs with biomimetic surfaces and interfacial structures are created using 3D printing technology to further improve their compatibility with the human body and enhance their biomechanical properties. This paper reviews and summarizes the current structural designs and applications of bioprinting. We also explore a variety of different biomimetic surface-interface structure designs combined with 3D printing, highlighting and categorizing their applications. Finally, we discuss the optimized design of 3D printed biomimetic surfaces with functional materials, focusing on the opportunities and challenges in the field of bio-AM.